Pediatric residents perceive communication competencies as important and a priority for learning, yet report a lack of confidence in advanced communication skills and insufficient program supports. Our measurement scales can add to the evaluation of residency programs, and may provide suggestions for pediatric curricular content in core and advanced communication skills.

OSCEs early in medical school can be useful in the early assessment of clinical competence.

Background: Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) in physical diagnosis courses. The purpose of this study was to describe student performance on an OSCE in a physical diagnosis course.

The relationship between objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs) and standardized tests is not well known. We linked second-year medical students' physical diagnosis OSCE scores from 1998, 1999 and 2000 (n = 355) with demographic information, Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) scores, and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) Step 1 scores. The correlation coefficient for the total OSCE score with USMLE Step 1 score was 0.41 (p < 0.001). Two of 7 skills areas-diagnosis and identification of abnormality-were significant multivariate correlates of USMLE Step 1 score. OSCE station scores accounted for approximately 22% of the variability in USMLE Step 1 scores. A second-year OSCE in physical diagnosis is correlated with scores on the USMLE Step 1 exam, with skills that foreshadow the clinical clerkships most predictive of USMLE scores. This correlation suggests predictive validity of this OSCE and supports the use of OSCEs early in medical school.

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A 15-session sex education program was delivered by teachers to 586 10th graders using techniques based on social learning theory, including modeling, in-class and out-of-class practice of skills for abstaining from sexual intercourse, and for contraception. Knowledge about reproduction and birth control, intentions to use skills to avoid pregnancy, and communication with parents about pregnancy prevention were significantly greater at posttest and 6-month follow-up for the trained group than for the control group. Members of the trained group tended to use birth control more often, especially those who started to have sexual intercourse subsequent to the program. No differences in the frequency of sexual intercourse, pregnancy scares, or pregnancies were found. Satisfaction with the program was high. Although skill training by itself may not be sufficient to significantly prevent pregnancies, this program offers promise of being a useful component of combined school, home, and community activities to prevent pregnancy.

The purposes of the study presented were to compare the health-promoting behaviors of older adults with those of young and middle-aged adults, to examine the relationship of age and other sociodemographic characteristics to life style throughout adulthood, and to identify differing life-style patterns among older adults. Six dimensions of life style were measured by the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile in 452 adults aged 18 to 88. Older adults had higher scores in overall health-promoting life style and in the dimensions of health responsibility, nutrition, and stress management than both young and middle-aged adults. Sociodemographic variables accounted for only 13.4% of the variance in life style and for 5.2% to 18.6% in its six dimensions. Five major health-promoting life-style patterns were identified among older adults, depicting a heterogeneous group with varying needs for health promotion programming.

Recognizing the psychometric components of OSCEs may support and enhance the use of OSCEs for measuring clinical competency of medical students.